It's Time for the 2023 NFL Draft

Read Time:2 Minute, 7 Second

KANSAS CITY- The lives of a select few young people will change on Thursday night, April 27th at Kansas City’s historic Union Station at 30 West Pershing Road. Union Station is the site for the NFL Draft where several famous movies were filmed such as “The Wizard of Oz”, “The Jayhawkers”, “The Day After”, and “The Learning Tree”. It is also the site of one of America’s worst tragedies. Mob member Frank Nash was killed along with four Police officers during the Union Station Massacre. The historic site features breathtaking views of Downtown Kansas City and has a beautiful fountain outside. It looks like a mall inside with places like Harvey’s restaurant and the local team shop Rally House. It is also the waiting area for Amtrak trains. The station looks colossal inside.

In the NFL’s biggest off-season event, former NCAA football players and college graduates will have their names called and the start of their dreams will begin. The path to such greatness is rarely glorious as those of us on the outside might believe. The constant personal sacrifices, scheduling of multiple events, and long hours make a 40-hour work week look like child’s play.

All the workouts, sponsorship events, community service projects, networking, and other events possibly lead to the equivalent of 50-60 hour work weeks before these young men sign their contracts. The constant traveling, fatigue, and mental strain to prepare for their lives after college will prove to be worth it starting this Thursday night.

This is the moment these men waited for. Some of them endured serious injuries and even some type of personal losses to get here. Sometimes we hear about family tragedies and other events that could have easily deterred these high-profile athletes from getting to this point.

In just four days, these hardworking individuals will see all their hard work pay off. Questions will have answers, players will smile, walk across the stage, and their team hats for the first time.

Will we be in for some surprise picks and shocking trades like last year? We will have some uniformity in this year’s draft or will be more of the same unpredictable and perhaps more exciting moments? Sometimes that lack of predictability makes things that much better.

Some shockers we saw last year included the New Orleans Saints moving up to select wide receiver Chris Olave and the Titans trading A.J. Brown to the Philadelphia Eagles.

If there is one lesson that should apply to the 2023 NFL Draft, it’s expect anything.